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“Sustainability is about women” - Mr Sha Zukang, UN under Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs.

This remark, made by the UN Under Secretary General of the Rio+20 Conference at the International Forum on Women and Sustainable Development in Beijing, underlines the important and urgent need for women’s organisations to appreciate and promote the important role of women in sustainable development.

At Rio+20, the dual challenge is to mainstream gender equality in national development strategies on the policy front and also strengthen capacity building for women, so as to genuinely improve the status of women. The Beijing Forum (November 9-11), organised by the All China Women Federation (ACWF), saw 18 Ministers and representatives present a brief country report on their work, and the experience and status of women under the issue of sustainable development. The broad topics of development and economic policy, international development, green economy and corporate social responsibility were discussed repeatedly, in relation to the theme “Women and Sustainable Development”.

An interesting topic highlighted at the session was on “Innovation for Sustainable Development - The Role of Women” by the US Deputy Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, who was also involved with the “Global Alliance for Clean Cook Stoves”. This organisation aims to create a thriving global market for clean and efficient cook stoves and fuels. Their objectives are to save lives by reducing exposure to cook stove smoke, particularly women and children in poorer countries; improve livelihoods by reducing diseases; save time and money; empower women through productive enterprises associated with stove use; and to combat climate change by reducing green house gas emissions.

Another interesting case presented by the Business and Professional Women (BPW) of Brazil is the “Tree is life” project. This simple project promotes tree planting throughout the country. Within a year, 3 million trees have been planted and they are working towards a target of 20 million trees by 2013, in partnership with local communities, companies and other government agencies.

300 delegates attended the forum – mainly country government representatives from 39 countries, a few International NGOs and UN agency representatives. The International NGOs represented were International Women’s Forum (IWF), NGO committee on the Status of Women New York, Bahai International Community, Overseas Development Institute, Europe External Policy Advisors and the Centre for Women’s Land Rights (LANDESA), as well as Soroptimist International.

A declaration was developed and signed by the participants of the conference. Looking ahead to Rio+20, the declaration focused on gender equality and sustainable development, reaffirming the outcomes of the Earth Summit in 1992, including Agenda 21, and puts forward proposals for further actions.

“Emphasizing that immediate actions be taken to promote gender equality and sustainable development, We [the participants of the International Forum on Women and Sustainable Development] suggest:

1. Further strengthen political wills and advance sustainable development processes at national, regional and global levels;

2. Enhance women’s capacity building, empower and invest in women, accelerate the process of gender equality and sustainable development;

3. Take comprehensive measures to eliminate gender-based discrimination and all barriers that hinder gender equality and sustainable development;

4. Enhance gender awareness, pay special attention to different impacts on men and women by policies and measures of sustainable development, and integrate gender perspectives throughout the process of sustainable development;

5. Promote women’s participation in all levels of decision-making of sustainable development, and give full play to their leadership;

6. Strengthen partnership and enhance cooperation between and among governments, the civil society, including the business sector, women’s organizations and all relevant stakeholders, and support women’s organizations in their efforts to promote gender equality and sustainable development;

7. Deepen international cooperation, increase support to developing countries, promote balanced development of the three pillars of sustainable development in all countries and regions, and make joint efforts to attain sustainable development."

Reported by Siew Yong Gnanalingam

President Elect SISWP

18^th November 2011